It has been five years since the world lost a legend, but we still get the gift of his legacy all these years later. My father, Romel Joseph, continues to be an inspiration to myself, to Haiti and to the musical world.

One of my dad’s most famous sayings was to “never give up, no matter what.” These words have never felt more relevant than this year, as all of our worlds have been turned upside down thanks to the instability Covid-19 has caused around the globe. But as my father would always say, it is during times of crisis and struggle that our dreams come into fruition.

To honor him this year, I want to look back at some of his most resilient moments—in which I hope we can all become inspired from and use as encouragement to keep moving forward towards our dreams despite our setbacks.

I want to share with you two of my dad’s most inspiring moments; two moments that continue to drive me each and every day:

1.The bravery to keep playing no matter what
One moment that stands out the most for me was when my dad insisted on performing on stage despite healing from a crushed foot, a broken ankle and three broken fingers! Right before a performance, he would say “I’ll take my pain meds, stand up and play, then deal with the pain and cramps afterwards!” His love for music and his passion for inspiring others still gives me chills to this day. This moment always reminds me that feeling broken does not have to break our dreams.

2.The trials and tribulations of The New Victorian School (TNVS)
My dad co-founded The New Victorian School with a dream of sharing the power of education and music with Haiti’s children. But the dream did not come without its fair share of challenges.

• 1991: I was not able to go to preschool safely because of the political unrest caused by the 1991 coup d’etat. My mother, being the life-long educator that she is, decided to homeschool me. One neighbor asked if she would homeschool their children as well. Another neighbor joined in. And, just like that, my father said “looks like we might as well open a school!” Together, they joined forces to share their skills with Haiti’s children: my mother the educator and my father the musician. Together, they made TNVS an arts magnet school for Haiti’s youth. My father was so passionate about this vision that he decided to forge ahead with building the school during the middle of the 1991 coup d’etat!

• 2000: Nine years after the school was built, it burned down to the ground on January 12th as a result of an electrical short circuit. But my dad got straight to work with rebuilding and classes resumed a few months later.

• 2010: One that very day ten years after the fire, an earthquake destroyed the school once again. But hard work and determination with the second rebuild, classes were able to resume in a matter of months.

The trials and tribulations of The New Victorian School continue on into this day, being continuously impacted for the last year and a half as a result of Haiti’s political unrest and the further instability Covid-19 has caused.

There is no hiding it—this last year has been very challenging for me and my dream of building onto my father’s legacy: continuing The New Victorian School, publishing my father’s music (The Romel Joseph Collection) and working towards creating a society where children have a chance to make music a life-long adventure (Friends of Music Education for Haiti). But it is in my times of struggle that I look to what he would have done in each and every challenging situation.

If my dad had to face the current unrest and lockdowns in Haiti, he would not have panicked. Instead, he would have been 100% focused on adapting and moving forward. I can imagine him calling me to brainstorm, coming up with a funny catch phrase for Zoom and most likely complaining how it was not designed to be user-friendly for those that are legally blind like him. He would have poured his heart and soul into ensuring that the children of Haiti could continue their musical education and skills despite a new hybrid approach to learning.

So when I am faced with these challenges, I think “What would Romel Joseph do?”

And when we all face our own set of unique challenges, we should all take a moment to think about what Romel would do.

The answer was, and always will be, the same: we must remain resilient, be adaptive and keep the hope alive for the sake of our dreams.

I miss you Pappy and am grateful for your guidance through times of challenge.

Love,